Speaker Emerita Pelosi Floor Speech on the Bipartisan Budget Agreement

Washington, D.C. – Today, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives in support of H.R. 3746, the Bipartisan Budget Agreement.  Below are the Speaker Emerita's remarks.

Speaker Emerita Pelosi.  Thank you, Mr. Speaker.  I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership and Mr. Boyle, the [Ranking Member] of our Budget Committee, as well. 

Mr. Speaker, I associate myself with the great remarks of our distinguished Leader, Mr. Hakeem Jeffries, who spoke earlier and captured so much of what is so important here today.

Mr. Speaker, our Constitution makes perfectly clear: ‘the validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.’  In the Bipartisan Budget Agreement, we honor our sworn oath as lawmakers to uphold this Constitutional duty.

While I find this legislation objectionable, it will avert an unprecedented default which would bring devastation to America's families: millions of jobs eliminated, trillions in savings erased, higher cost on loans, mortgages, car payments, credit card bills and more.

And let us commend President Biden for his responsible leadership to prevent this unconscionable outcome, while protecting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, protecting health care for our veterans as our Commander-in-Chief, climate, infrastructure, our economy. 

I urge my colleagues to support the full faith and credit of the United States.  It shall not be questioned.

I yield back.